U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has largely abandoned the idea of building a wall along the entire nearly 2,000-mile southwest U.S. border, and that where a barrier is erected it may not be a wall.

Flake was present at a Tuesday White House meeting where Trump discussed with a group of bipartisan lawmakers a road map for possible agreement on several immigration and border-security issues.

“He (Trump) did stress several times that we’re not talking about a 2,000-mile wall, and, by the way, it’s more of a fence because you’ve got to see through it,” Flake told The Arizona Republic following the meeting. “And they’re only talking about 700 or 800 miles total.”

The result could be something quite different from the "big beautiful wall" Trump promised voters during his 2016 presidential campaign, and what he has advocated for in his first full year of office.

Trump announced in October that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that shielded "dreamers" from deportation and gave them work permits, will end March 5. He's also made funding for additional border barriers a condition to move forward with protections for the young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children.

The demand to link the wall and dreamer protections has been met with mixed reactions in Congress, especially among Democrats who are pushing for a "clean bill" that is not conditional on anything else.

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Three border wall prototypes are seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, California, as seen from behind the pre-existing border fencing on the international border between the U.S. and Tijuana, Mexico, on Oct. 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

A border wall prototype is seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, California, as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on Oct. 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

Construction continues of the border wall prototype designed and contracted to Fisher Sand & Gravel of Tempe, among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, California, on Oct. 17, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

Construction continues of the border wall prototype designed and contracted to Fisher Sand & Gravel of Tempe, among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, California, on Oct. 17, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

Two border wall prototypes are seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

A border wall prototype is seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

A border wall prototypes is seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

Two border wall prototypes are seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

Three border wall prototypes are seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from behind the preexisting border fencing on the international border between the U.S. and Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

Three border wall prototypes are seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from behind the preexisting border fencing on the international border between the U.S. and Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

A border-wall prototype is seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on Oct. 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

A border wall prototype is seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

A border wall prototype is seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

A border-wall prototype is seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, as seen from behind the pre-existing border fencing on U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

Two border wall prototypes are seen among the construction of the prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry outside of San Diego, Calif., as seen from behind the preexisting border fencing on the international border between the U.S. and Tijuana, Mexico, on October 16, 2017. David Wallace/The Republic

To date, less than 700 miles of the 1,900-mile border with Mexico has some sort of fence or vehicle barrier. Nearly half of the current structures are located in Arizona, according to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Under a detailed proposal he sent legislators last week, Trump called for $18 billion over the next decade to add more than 300 miles of new barriers, and 400 miles of replacement or secondary fencing at the border.

The most pressing funding issue for the border wall is the $1.6 billion that the House approved, but the Senate has yet to take up. Flake said that will likely come up for discussion in the next few weeks.

“Do we do the $1.6 billion request, which is about 74 miles of fencing, this year?" he said. "You’ve got eminent domain issues, in Texas especially, and that takes a long time. And you’ve got to get several years of appropriations as well.”